Inti’s Watcher

  Marie waited in her group’s area as her crew got ready for the contest. It was going to start in twenty minutes, so they were changing and getting their gear in place.

  No weapons were allowed…

  She slowly turned a folding knife in her hand. The thought of having all her weapons removed made her chest tighten and her eyes dilate. It had taken her a few days to feel safe in their group area without anything, but going into the common area unarmed was still impossible.

  Going to a new location, with numerous people around, not counting animals or other natural dangers… No. Couldn't be done.

  The few times in her life she’d been completely unarmed, bad things had happened. Things she could have prevented if she’d had a weapon. Logically, she knew none of those things would happen here, but logic had no say in how she’d woken up this morning feeling like there was a rope around her throat.

  So she would stay safely within reach of her pistols and cutlass.

  Razan was the first person to come out of his room. Like the last time they’d been in the ocean, he was wearing shorts, group-identifying bracelets, the breathing device, and nothing else. He bowed to Marie, then took his chair at the table. He watched her fiddle with her knife, but kept silent when she raised an eyebrow at him.

  Shortly after came Sophie, also wearing the same thing she’d worn last time. She was holding the ends of her chest wrap thing behind her back, and smiled apologetically as she walked to the table.

  “Marie, would you mind…”

  “You’ll need to figure this out yourself someday,” Marie warned, setting the knife down to tie the fabric into a bow at her spine.

  “Why?” Sophie asked too innocently. “You do such a perfect job; I’ll never want anyone else to do it.”

  “Save your flattery,” Marie ordered, pushing her away.

  The thief smiled, sliding into her chair. “Nop says she’ll keep an eye on my temperature, and if I start to freeze she’ll let me know to bail.”

  “That’s good,” Marie said, absently picking up her knife again.

  “I don't think I could have joined without that assurance,” Sophie said, pulling her hair around to start braiding it. It wasn’t as bad as it had been that first afternoon, but her blonde hair still had a definite teal tint to it.

  Marie suspected Sophie liked having green hair. Not enough to do it again on purpose, but she didn't seem to be in any hurry to fix the color.

  Peter finally came out of his room. He was again wearing loose trousers and a tight, long-sleeved shirt. The shirt looked almost uncomfortably tight on him now; proof he’d gained weight and muscle in the past two months. He saw them all at the table and walked over.

  “We ready?” he asked.

  “We are,” Razan confirmed, getting to his feet.

  Sophie finished tying her braid and bounced to her feet. “Right!” She gave Marie a quick hug. “See you in four hours!”

  Marie smiled. “Have fun, stay safe, etcetera, etcetera…”

  “Will do,” Peter said, lifting his hand to touch the brim of a hat that wasn't there. He glared at the hand waving in front of his face, settled on giving Marie a nod, and turned to leave.

  Razan slowly got up, watching her.

  Again, she raised an eyebrow at him.

  He bowed and spoke softly. “I will make sure they are safe, Captain.”

  Marie focused on her knife, surprised by how relieved hearing those words made her feel. “I trust you, samurai,” she said in a low voice.

  He straightened up, gave an American-style salute, and followed the other two out the door.

  Marie smiled, shaking her head, then looked towards the section of wall where the raven was. “Nop: I need to see everything.”

  The wall opened, and Nop jumped out. “Of course. How many pictures would you like simultaneously?”

  Yonaguni Monument

  Deep under water, there was a giant stone structure. It was huge, rectangular, and completely unnatural.

  Razan found himself with his group at the eastern end of… whatever this was, near a vertical drop that would be lethal above water. Ignoring that, he scanned the top of the structure and spotted three air bag caches tethered to the rock. Knowing where they were made him feel better.

  There was a current about as strong as a stiff breeze, but the water was as warm as ocean water could be, so he wasn't particularly worried about it.

  Sophie picked up a blue shell, curled her toes around the sharp edge of the rock, and let it drop. Peter stepped closer to the edge to watch it fall, keeping a safe distance.

  “Visibility here isn't the best,” Sophie decided. She tilted forwards over nothing, letting the current keep her from falling. “Can't see it at all now. I see a purple shell, though. Should I try to get it?”

  “No,” Peter snapped. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto solid ground.

  “I wasn't asking you,” she growled, wrenching her arm away.

  “Don't bother getting it,” Razan said. “Going down and back up would only waste time and energy. Focus on the top of the structure.”

  “Fine,” Sophie said, crossing her arms as she scanned the rock around them.

  Peter rolled his eyes.

  “This structure is a giant rectangle,” Razan said unnecessarily. “Sophie, go to the other side. Peter, stay on this side; I’ll take the center. We’ll make our way to the western end, switch places, and make our way back. Understood?”

  “Understood,” Sophie echoed, and darted away through the water.

  “Sir, yes, sir,” Peter drawled, picking up a shell.

  Razan nodded and made his way to the center. He wondered how he was going to keep an eye on both of them and still be able to find shells.

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  Sophie got to the edge of the monolith and stared out into the open ocean. She could hear whales singing. They weren't visible through the blue-grey water, but they were out there, calling to each other.

  “You’re dead!”

  Sophie yelped, scrambling away from hands suddenly latched onto her wrist. Laughing her head off, Rani let go.

  “I know I’m sneaky, but you might want to work on keeping an eye out for enemies in contests,” she said, shaking her head.

  Sophie crossed her arms. “I do. I’m just specifically not concerned about enemies in this one, as fighting is not allowed.”

  “Yes, I believe that, absolutely. What color shells are you after?”

  Sophie held up her bag, which already held five shells. “Purple. You?”

  “Blue,” Rani said. “Shall we search together?”

  “Only if you promise to not scare me half to death like that again,” Sophie told her.

  “Within a month?”

  Sophie glared. “Two months.”

  “Fine, two months, I promise,” Rani said, chuckling. “You should have seen your face, though.”

  “Aren't we being recorded?” Sophie asked, moving to pick up a purple shell. “I probably will see it at some point.”

  “Probably,” Rani agreed, pulling a shell out from a clump of seaweed. “I saw Peter and Razan; where’s Marie?”

  “She didn't want to join since fighting is banned,” Sophie answered, spotting a green shell. “What’s the best thing to do with shells we don't need?”

  “I just drop them off the edge,” Rani shrugged. “In the center you have to hide them under plants or something, so it’s good to keep an eye out on what others are doing.”

  Sophie nodded, putting a foot on the stone’s corner. She pulled her arm back and threw the green shell as hard as she could. It got a pathetic distance out before spiraling down to the ocean floor far below.

  She saw something else down there, as well. “What’s the difference between a shark and a very large fish?”

  “Maybe you shouldn't be this close to the edge,” Rani said. “Don't want anything to come up and bite you, like that shark did last time you were in the ocean.”

  “I wouldn't mind,” Sophie said truthfully, picking up another shell. The rock next to it twitched. “Do turtles bite? I think I just woke this one up.” She reached out to pet it, but Rani grabbed her hand.

  “Yes. They bite.”

  Peter scanned the rock as he slowly swam over it, checking for shells under plants and in crevices. The shells were about the size of a spinning top; big enough to see, but small enough to hide.

  Ahead of him, Cheevin from the Parrots was collecting green shells, moving slightly faster than him. Following behind Peter was one of the Masks, more focused on having fun swimming around than finding shells. To his left, Razan was barely visible moving around slabs of stone in the center of the monument. Sophie was too far away to see through the water.

  There were seven other people currently in view. People faded in and out as they moved in different directions, most too far away to tell what colors they wore.

  After about twenty minutes he heard his name called and looked ahead to find Grace swimming in his direction. She paused to pick up a shell before reaching him.

  “What color are you after?” she asked, holding up her bag full of purple shells.

  “Same as you,” he answered, showing her his bag.

  “We're enemies, then,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Rivals. Can't trust ya. Especially not with your clever disguise.”

  “Disguise?” he repeated.

  She smirked. “No hat. No poncho. Barely recognized you, Poncho.”

  “Oh,” he laughed. “Well, for some reason there aren't any swimming ponchos, so I had to come without one.”

  Grace’s smirk softened, a slightly worried look in her eyes. “You all right without it?”

  Peter pulled his arms in, suddenly hyperaware of all the dangers around. “Better than I was last time. Not a single panic attack yet. But I still feel exposed.”

  “There’s no shame in bailing, if you need to,” she told him. “I won't think less of you.”

  “I don't need to,” he said. “As long as nothing touches me I think I’ll be fine.”

  She nodded. “I won't give ya a surprise hug, then.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What are you doing with the other shells you find?” Grace asked, checking her air level.

  He shrugged. “Collecting them and then dropping them off the edge of the cliff.”

  “Hide them instead,” she suggested. “Too many people did that, and then last time one group had the bright idea to go to the bottom and just walk around the perimeter the whole time. They won. This time there’s a dozen or so people down there.”

  “Got it,” he said. “Anything else I should know?”

  “My favorite color is emerald green, and I hate tinned sardines with an absolute passion.”

  Peter laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anything I should know about the contest?”

  “Oh, the contest, right, you should have been more specific,” Grace said with a grin. “Current is strongest around the eastern end. Don't swim too far up or out. Not much else to say.”

  “I’ll be careful,” he promised. “Hey, ‘emerald green tinned sardines’ has a nice ring to it. Want to try writing a song with lyrics this week?”

  Her eyes lit up.

  There was a school of sharks moving lazily above the stone structure. They didn't seem interested in the people below them, their silhouettes showing a slow, revolving dance as they made their way south.

  Them being nearby made Razan nervous, regardless. There were over twenty of them in the group, each capable of biting to the bone if they decided to. If the sharks suddenly went after someone, even the rostari wouldn't be able to save that soul.

  Razan knew having a weapon wouldn't make any difference if the sharks came after him, but he still would have felt better with one in his hand. He decided to tell Marie she was right to have stayed behind.

  Trying to ignore them, Razan picked up another shell and put it in his bag. He checked that Peter was still alive and well, and then checked Sophie’s location.

  Sophie and Rani, after having escaped an angry turtle and stumbling blindly into a swarm of small jellyfish, had been joined by a woman from Dust before an eel decided to make them its lunch. Razan had met the woman a few times; her name would come to him eventually. She was staying with Sophie and Rani for the moment, hovering around like a mother bird.

  Razan watched her help Rani pull a crab off Sophie’s foot, and wondered if all animals hated Sophie, or if being in the ocean simply worsened her luck. Perhaps there was some sort of curse on her to die in the water.

  In any case, he was glad she wasn't alone, and decided she should be discouraged from joining underwater competitions after this.

  He kicked a green shell under some coral and picked up a purple shell. Glancing around, he saw Ariharu swimming in his general direction. They got close enough to exchange greetings and did so.

  “What color are you collecting?” Ariharu asked.

  “Purple,” Razan answered. “I assume you aren't, or your team member wouldn't be following mine.” He motioned to Sophie.

  “No, I’m collecting green shells,” Ariharu said, watching the women. “I’m a bit surprised Mutya joined them; she doesn't trust easily.”

  Razan opened his mouth to say he wasn't surprised, had a vision of spending twenty minutes explaining precisely how he felt about Sophie and why, and closed his mouth again.

  “I suppose if she’s just trying to help keep Sophie from being killed by some animal it’s understandable,” Ariharu decided.

  “Yes, I’m sure that’s all,” Razan agreed.

  Ariharu shrugged. “You’re headed west?”

  Razan bowed.

  “I’m headed east. We’ll see each other when we circle back,” he said, and bowed as well.

  They said their farewells and continued on.

  Sophie giggled uncontrollably, peeling an octopus’ arm off her wrist. It left small round red spots where its tentacle had been.

  Mutya muttered a prayer for patience, poking at the creature with a long, thin rock. The woman had been very helpful in protecting Sophie, but not completely successful.

  “No, you know what?” Rani asked, rubbing her forehead. “Sophie, I love you, but you need to leave. Take the octopus with you. I don't know why all sea creatures want to eat you, but they do. Leave before you lose a hand.”

  “I agree,” Mutya said, looking at Sophie seriously. “Although you shouldn’t take the octopus.”

  Sophie continued giggling.

  “Why not?” Rani asked. “I’m sure someone would love to eat it.”

  “You can't bail while touching another living thing,” Mutya said. “At the very least it would have to be dead first.”

  “Oh, right. Fine.” Rani grabbed two tentacles and pulled, grimacing. “How is this thing so strong?”

  It suddenly let go of Sophie and shot off over the edge of the cliff. Mutya twitched away as it nearly touched her.

  Sophie looked at her spotted wrist, finally getting the last of her giggles out. “Thank you. Now all I have to do is hand my shells off to Razan and I’ll go.”

  They looked at the stretch of rock between them and Razan. There was a handful of spiky fish swimming protectively around a clump of coral, a school of sharks circling above, and at least a dozen crabs scuttling around. Something flashed from behind a large slab of rock into a hidden crevice.

  “Yes,” Rani decided. “Sophie’s going to die.”